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Where's Today's Beethoven / Darwin / Shakespeare?

cold-takes.com · 6,138 words · saved by 4 readers

Why is no composer today as acclaimed as Beethoven, no author as acclaimed as Shakespeare? A data-driven look at a few possible explanations.

Click lower right to download or find on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, etc. This piece kicks off a short series inspired by this question: Say that Beethoven was the greatest musician of all time (at least in some particular significant sense - see below for some caveats). Why has there been no one better in the last ~200 years - despite a vastly larger world population, highly democratized technology for writing and producing music, and a higher share of the population with education, basic nutrition, and other preconditions for becoming a great musician? In brief, where's today's Beetho

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